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Newport Fire Chief outlines staffing, call-volume rise, new engine and ISO grading
Summary
Fire Chief Rob Murphy briefed the Newport City Council on department staffing, a 25% rise in calls since 2020, new equipment and an upcoming ISO report; he outlined recruitment, a mini-academy for new hires, mutual-aid arrangements and plans for a new combined station opening in October.
Rob Murphy, Newport’s fire chief, gave the council a broad operations update, noting staffing levels, call-volume trends, recent equipment work and preparedness activities for the summer fire season.
Murphy said the department is a combination model (career staff plus volunteers), is budgeted for 15 full-time equivalents and is currently at 13.6 FTEs. He listed department personnel by name and role: Assistant Chief / Fire Marshal Tom Sikaris; Captains Steve Moody, Doyle Hemmerichs and Eric Stafford; three fire engineers; six firefighter positions of which four are filled and two candidates are in background checks; one executive assistant (Catherine, 0.6 FTE); an emergency-preparedness coordinator (Del); and about 13 active volunteers.
Murphy provided 2024 call-volume data drawn from the National Fire Incident Reporting System categories: 48 fires; 1,559 medical calls; 73 hazardous-conditions incidents (which includes hazardous-materials responses and gas leaks); 314 service calls; 405 good-intent calls; 176 false…
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